Play slide



Sept. 20, 1966 D. P. GRUDOSKI PLAY SLIDE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 14, 1964 Fig.

INVENTOR.

DANIEL P. GRUDOS ATTORNEYS Sept. 20, 1966 Filed April 14, 1964 D. P. GRUDOSKI 3, 73,887

PLAY SLIDE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. DANIEL P. GRUDOSKI BY 7 24/ 14! V/ M4314 United States Patent 3,273,887 PLAY SLIDE Daniel P. Grudoski, Hartstown, Pa., assignor to Blazon, Inc., Akron, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Apr. 14, 1964, Ser. No. 359,570 4 Claims. (Cl. 272-565) This invention relates to play slides and, more particularly, to a novel construction for play slides.

Childrens play slides generally comprise a ladder and a slide bed associated to provide a rigid support both for the structure itself and loads imposed by children climbing and sliding on the structure. The more desirable play slides usually have a horizontal platform between the ladder and the slide bed. This horizontal platform generally comprises short horizontal beam members that extend from the ladder to the side rails of the slide bed, being connected to these members by bolts. Wood or steel slats extend across the braces to provide the horizontal platform, upon which the child may stand or sit before starting down the slide. Some less expensive play slides in use today do not have such a horizontal platform, the top of the slide bed being bolted or otherwise effectively pivotally attached directly to the ladder at or adjacent its top rung.

Heretofore additional bracing members had to be provided between the slide bed and the ladder in both of the abovementioned slide constructions. The slides that did not have a platform would otherwise have only a single connection at the intersection of the ladder and the slide. Although such a ladder and its slide bed, if both were securely fixed to the ground, theoretically would constitute a rigid triangular assembly with the ground (viewed from the side), in practice it is not, due to the flexibility of the ladder and slide members and their usual pivotal connection. A slide provided with a platform is an inherently unstable structure without additional bracing when the platform, ladder, and slide bed are bolted together by bolts extending transversely to the plane of the members; such an unbraced assembly can form only a quadrilateral structure even when securely fastened to the ground so that the ground becomes a member of the structure.

Such slides as above described are almost always delivered to the user in a packaged knockdown form to save assembly costs and shipping expenses. Some prior art slides have sought to provide the simplicity of assembly of a platformless slide by bending the upper end of the slide member so that, when assembled to a ladder, the upper bent end of the slide member provides a horizontal platform. This practice (which reduced the number of parts to be manufactured and the chance of error in packaging a knockdown slide with all necessary parts and also lessened the irritation of many users unable to follow instructions for assembly slides from a greater number of parts) has not been especially practical.

It is an object of this invention to overcome many of the above deficiencies of the prior art.

It is a more particular object of this invention to provide a play slide having a horizontal platform that is integral with and bent from the slide bed, and which is a stable structure that does not require additional bracing between the slide bed and the ladder.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a play slide that may be inexpensively manufactured and stacked flat and compactly for shipment.

These and other objects will become more fully understood from the following detailed description and from the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the play slide according to the present invention.

3,273,887 Patented Sept. 20, 1966 FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary, elevational view of a portion of the play slide shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view of the slide bed and platform prior to the bending operation.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of the play slide, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 4-4 in FIGURE 2.

Referring now to the drawings, a play slide 10 is illustrated. The play slide 10 includes an inclined sheet metal slide bed 11, which is rigidly held between two tubular D-rails 12. In this particular embodiment of the D-rails (as shown partly in section in FIG. 4, due to the fact that FIG. 4 is taken at a section where the rail is notched down to the flat) the rails are tubed from a longitudinal strip of metal in which one margin of the strip is left unbent to provide a fiat; in this preferred embodiment the tubed strip is not completely closed, but is left with a longitudinal slot allowing the margins of the sheet metal of the bed 11 to be inserted into the interiors of the tubular Drails. The bottom end of the slide bed is supported by a foot support 13 which is inserted in the open ends of the D-rails 12 and by an anchor stake 14 which may be driven through the foot support 13.

The D-rails 12 are provided with notches 15 (FIG- URE 3 near their upper ends, and the D-rails 12 and the slide bed 11 are bent, as is shown in phantom outline in FIGURE 3, to form an upper, horizontal platform portion 16. It should be appreciated that the slide bed 11 and the D-rails 12 would be shipped to the customer in the substantially flat condition illustrated in solid outline in FIGURE 3. The horizontal platform portion is easily bent by the customer when the play slide is assembled, since due to the notches 15 in the D-rails, only the thin depth of section of the slide bed 11 at the notches needs to be bent.

The play slide 10 further includes ladder rails 17, which are inclined upwardly to the horizontal platform 16. The ladder rails 17 are connected at their lower ends to a stabilizer bar 18 which may be secured to the ground by an anchor stake 19. Ladder rungs 20 are bolted at their ends to the ladder rails 17. The ladder rails 17 are connected to the bent end portion of the D-rails 12 by a suitable connection 21 and continue upwardly to form curved hand rail portions 22. The hand rail portions 22 terminate in bent end extensions 23 which are telescoped into and extend a short distance within the downwardly slanting portion of D-rails 12. Such telescoping is permitted by the opening provided by the notch 15 when the slide bed is bent. As may be seen more clearly in FIGURES 2 and 4, the end portions 23 are fixed within the D-rails 12 by bolts 24.

Although, as was mentioned above, the horizontal platform 16 is formed by the customer, it should be appreciated that this forming operation does not require a determination of the slope of the slide by the customer. This slope is determined by the angle at which the extensions 23 are bent with respect to the hand rail portions 22, the location of the platform attaching means 21 by which the platform 16 is connected to the ladder rails 17, and the locking of the extensions 23 within the D-rails 12 by the bolts 24.

It should be appreciated that the resulting slide structure eliminates the need for additional braces between the ladder rails 17 and the D-rails 12 beneath the platform 16, as were heretofore required. Each hand rail portion 22 in addition to functioning as a hand rail, serves as two sides of a stiff truss completed by the D-rail portions of the platform 16 to which the portions 22 are non-pivotally connected, due to the fact that none of the axes of the bolts connecting the slide bed 11 to the tubular members constituting the integral ladder rail portions 17, the hand rail portions 22 and extensions 23 are per- 'pendicular to the planes in which such tubular members lie. The close fit of the extensions 23 within the D-rails 12 likewise provides, in combination with the slide bed 11 and integral platform, lateral as well as fore-and-aft stability at the juncture of the slide bed to the ladder. Consequently, the anchor stakes 14 and 19, when used, serve as much to prevent the slide from moving around during use as they do resist fore-and-aft spreading of the lower ends of the ladder and slide bed during use.

It should further be appreciated that other modifications and variations of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is to be understood that the invention may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims otherwise than as specifically disclosed.

What is claimed is:

1. A play slide comprising an inclined bed portion and an integrally formed, substantially horizontal platform portion, a pair of ladder rails, first means connecting said ladder rails to one end of said platform portion, said ladder rails having end portions that extend in the direction of said inclined bed portion, second means connect. ing said end portions to said bed portion at the juncture between said bed portion and its integrally formed, substantially horizontal platform portion, said first and second connecting means being the only connection between said rails and said platform and bed portions.

2. A play slide comprising an inclined bed portion and an integrally formed, substantially horizontal platform portion, a pair of ladder rails, first means connecting saidladder rails to one end of said platform portion, the ladder rails being looped upwardly to form hand rail portions above said platform portion, said hand rail portions having end portions that extend in the direction of said inclined bed portion, second means connecting said end portions to said bed portion at the juncture between said bed portion and its integrally formed, substantially horizontal platform portion, said first and second connecting means being the only connection between said ladder rails and said platform and bed portions.

3. A play slide comprising a pair of tubular side rails having transverse notches cut therein adjacent an end of the pair, a continuous slide bed mounted between said pair of tubular side rails, said side rails and bed being bent at said notches to define an inclined slide portion and an integrally formed, substantially horizontal platform portion, a pair of ladder rails, first means connecting said ladder rails to one end of said platform portion, said ladder rails having end portions that are telescoped in openings in the side rails that are defined by said transverse notches, said end portions extending within the side rails that define the inclined slide portion, second means connecting said end portions within said side rails, said first and second connecting means being the only connection between said ladder rails and the platform and slide portions.

4. A play slide comprising a pair of tubular side rails having transverse notches cut therein adjacent and end of the pair, a continuous slide bed mounted between said pair of tubular side rails, said side rails and bed being bent at said notches to define an inclined slide portion and an integrally formed, substantially horizontal plat form portion, a pair of ladder rails, first means connecting said ladder rails to one end of said platform portion, the ladder rails being looped upwardly to form hand rail portions above said platform portion, said hand rail portions having end portions that are telescoped in openings in the side rails that are defined by said transverse notches, said end portions extending within the side rails that define the inclined slide portion, second means connecting said end portions within said side rails, said first and second connecting means being the only connection between said ladder rails and the platform and slide portions.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 909,480 1/1909 Tothill 27256.5 2,841,396 1/1958 Foss 272-565 RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

F. B. LEONARD, A. W. KRAMER,

Assistant Examiners. 

1. A PLAY SLIDE COMPRISING AN INCLINED BED PORTION AND AN INTEGRALLY FORMED, SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL PLATFORM PORTION, A PAIR OF LADDER RAILS, FIRST MEANS CONNECTING SAID LADDER RAILS TO ONE END OF SAID PLATFORM PORTION, SAID LADDER RAILS HAVING END PORTIONS THAT EXTEND IN THE DIRECTION OF SAID INCLINED BED PORTION, SECOND MEANS CONNECTING SAID END PORTION TO SAID BED PORTION AT THE JUNCTURE BETWEEN SAID BED PORTION AND ITS INTEGRALLY FORMED, SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL PLATFORM PORTION, SAID FIRST AND SEC- 